Mumbai, December 18: It was a press conference scheduled to announce changes for the Indian Premier League’s fourth season, but it quickly turned into a solidarity parade for the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s top officials.
BCCI president Shashank Manohar started proceedings after the IPL’s governing council’s meeting by refuting reports about infighting and power struggles within the executive to control the highly profitable T20 venture. The session ended with the two men said to be at loggerheads — IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and BCCI secretary N Srinivasan — back-patting each other and walking out together with smiles on their faces.
“I have seen reports in the media that say that a conspiracy is being hatched to remove Mr Lalit Modi as IPL chairman,” Manohar said. “Mr Modi is doing an excellent job. He is appointed by the general body till 2012 and there is no reason or no power and authority with either one of us to remove him,” he added, as Modi sat next to him with a smile on his face.
He went on to add that there could be differences on issues between people but that doesn’t make them enemies. “I’m very sorry to say that the picture which has been painted by the media is absolutely baseless and false.”
After that, it was over to Modi, who presented details about the discussions that took place between the members of the council, the chief among them being the consensus on the contentious proposal of increasing in the number of teams for the 2011 season. But with Modi saying that the present franchises would be able to retain their key players, it was clear that a compromise had been worked out.
This was a departure from the earlier stand of the IPL, where it was decided that the inclusion of two teams would see all players, including the icons, going under the hammer so that the new entrants wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. The franchises were reluctant to part ways with the big names, saying they had invested a lot on them and their sudden departure would affect the three-year branding of their teams.
With BCCI secretary Srinivasan being one of the franchise owners, the difference of opinion with Modi on this issue was seen as a reason for the rift between them.
“The two new franchises will have a minimum bid price of $225 million but current franchises will be able to keep certain number of current players. The modality (about the number of players) will be announced shortly,” Modi said. This compromise formula provides enough reason for bonhomie among those on the panel.
Among the other important issues was the presence of Pakistan players in the IPL’s coming season. Modi said that about 12 players from the neighbouring country had shown interest to play the league and they were likely to figure in the auction on January 19. However, the status of the four Pakistan players who missed the visa deadline set by the organisers was still not clear.
——Agencies